Saturday, September 4, 2010

I Have a Secret

By Kirsten Scott

Wanna know my secret? Okay, it's not really that big a secret. It's a little secret. Maybe a medium-sized secret. Anyway, I'm not really Kirsten Scott. Well, I should clarify...I AM Kirsten, the Kirsten who has been blogging with you all these years. But I'm also...

INARA SCOTT

And here's the cool thing. Inara's first book, Delcroix Academy: The Candidates, hit the shelves on August 24! So this, my friends, is a SECRET LAUNCH PARTY! For Inara.

I mean Kirsten.I mean Inara.

Anyway, here's the story. Five years ago, I started writing. Or rather, I picked up where I left off in high school. Which was writing what I love to read -- romance. I love romance novels. I've been reading them since I was 12, and there's nothing, NOTHING, I like better than a alpha male, spunky heroine, and happily ever after.

So I wrote a romance novel. It became a Golden Heart finalist. I joined this cool blog and wrote another romance novel. It almost landed me an agent. But didn't. Agents told me I was "almost there." I got depressed. I had written two novels and I was ready for more...so I decided to try something new. I heard Meg Cabot speak at an RWA conference and I said, hey, that sounds like fun. Maybe I can write one of those...what do you call them? Young adult novels? Yeah, maybe I can write one of those.So I did. And you know what? Someone bought it!

That was three years ago. Since then, I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for this day. And now it's here. The book is on the shelves. My secret is out...I'm a romance writer who has a secret passion for boarding school, supernatural powers, and kids who hold hands and have crushes.

I'll still be blogging here as Kirsten. I still hope someday I may publish an adult romance. But right now, Inara's having a pretty good time.

So tell me -- do you have a secret identity? Super powers? Crushes? Read young adult novels? Tell me all about it. I've got prizes. Lots of prizes. After all, you are my people. My friends. The romance community that has sheltered and nurtured me all these years.Here's what's up for grabs:

77 comments:

I really read almost anything. YA novels can be great reads - I mean look at Harry Potter and Twilight and there's another series my daughter is going to lend me but I just went blank (senior moment lol). I would love to know how you came up with the name Inara - very unique! My biggest secret is all the books I sneak into the house lol.

And now my secret: I do have superpowers! I'm a GRANDMOTHER! All ofus have them and we can do almostanything and everything! That's what my grandchildren believe andI am not about to disabuse them oftheir beliefs! LOL!

Congrats on our debut release, Kirsten/Inara. I don't have a secret identity at the moment. I have a lot of celebrity crushes and they include Eric Bana, Andy Whitfield and Henry Cavill. I haven't picked a YA in a while and will definitely check out Delcroix Academy: The Candidates.

Congrats on your debut release, Kirsten/Inara. I don't have a secret identity at the moment. I have a lot of celebrity crushes and they include Eric Bana, Andy Whitfield and Henry Cavill. I haven't picked a YA in a while and will definitely check out Delcroix Academy: The Candidates.

Congratulations on your secret new book! That is very exciting and I can't think of any interesting secrets I have. Even my age is no secret since my kids know what year I was born and have no problem telling people my age.

Hi catslady ... have a good day with GRCongratulations Kirsten/Inara on your books ... I haven't read any YA romances although I read all Harry Potter books but I will have to try some.... will see if my grandaughter reads them. My secret is the fabric I bring home for my sewing and patchwork...

I am so flippin' excited--I need reminders when you all have book releases! Can't wait to read this and share it with all my girls. They will love it!

I absolutely love YA. All the twilights, harry, my eleven year old and I just shared a set of little clay dragon books--but I can't remember the names--and I want to read Shiver. Demon's Lexicon and Demon's Covenant were amazing And I love all the Ally Carter books. It's great to share books with your kids.

I'm off to our annual library sale in ten minutes. I can't wait to see what goodies they're clearing out to make room for the new! :)

Alas, I have no super powers, but have often wished I could wave my hand or wiggle my nose, a la Samantha Stevens on Bewitched and clean my house or transport myself anywhere I wished. How cool would that be???

Now as far as crushes go, I have a few: Sean Connery, Hugh Jackman, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler....I'm sure I could go on and on. Notice, my weakness for men with accents!*g*

Like Pat and Helen and others I am a grandmother and for a brief while my children thought I was all powerful too. My daughter once broke a crystal bell owned by my aunt, she told her grandmother (my mother) that it was alright, mommy would fix it when she got home from work. Just for the record, I did!

Hi all! Thanks for stopping by on this beautiful, last-of-summer Labor Day Weekend! I'm at the family cabin for the weekend, so I'll be checking in sporatically through the day (no internet at the cabin, naturally!).

Anyway, Inara is actually my real name. My mom's Latvian, and that was the best name she could figure that was Latvian AND that Americans could pronounce. I love it. It means mermaid, which makes me happy, because deep down I really want to BE a mermaid.

Love your book secret -- my husband goes crazy when I come home from the library with hundreds of books. So I do some sneaking too. ;-)

Hi Daz -- this is such a fabulous post. A secret that will remain a secret. Love it. I hope it's some horrible trick you all played on your parents that they never figured out. That would be an awesome secret for kids to keep.

hey Jane, thanks for the note! Love your crushes -- I haven't had enough time lately to watch TV/movies and all my crushes got old and gnarly looking (have you seen Harrison Ford lately?). I may have to adopt yours as I look for new ones.

Hi Donna! Yes, the secret identity is a little tricky, but it's also kinda fun. I get to be two people. So when I do something embarrassing in one of my identities, the other is around to clean up. ;-)

Thanks for checking out the book trailer -- if anyone wants to see it, look on my website (inarascott.com) or search on YouTube for Delcroix Academy.

If I can get the bandwith here, I'll link it in my original post. (Duh! Should have done that before!)

I read most books as long as they have romance in them I will read them although I gotta say I loved the Harry Potter series as well

Me too, Helen! It seems like a lot of the YAs DO have a romantic thread nowadays. I can't help thinking that this is because very few people don't enjoy that romance thread, to one degree or another. Otherwise they wouldn't put a love interest in so many action-adventure movies. I mean...they can blow up all the buildings they want, use up all the ammo in the world, and really, you're watching to see if Aaaaahnold, Bruce, or one of the other hunky heroes saves world so he can get the girl at the end, aren't you?

I had a sort of secret--I'd been taking dance at the same studio my daughter does. And it wasn't something I broadcasted. When I agreed to perform with my class in the spring show though, that pretty much blew my cover. Now all my fellow parents know... sigh ;)

Have fun with the GR, catslady! I do that, too (sneak books into the house! ;))

Congratulations on your YA book release! I don't have a secret identity. It is more like a split personality. I read both YA and adult books. I read a lot of YA in my persona as Ms. Martin, Media Specialist and I read everything else in my Kathy, Bookaholic persona. Of course, there is a lot of overlap. I love paranormals and romances whether written for adults or young adults.

Congratulations on your debut, Kirsten/Inara! Delcroix Academy: The Candidates sounds to me as if it is destined to be hugely popular.

I've been reading YA since my own YA days, further in the past than I'm willing to admit to. I agree with Madeleine L'Engle that "The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been." A part of me is still the young teen who savored every Janet Lambert book and, as the years passed, just kept on reading Hinton, Zindel, Cormier, Duncan, Voigt, Cushman, Bauer, Anderson, Dessen, Rowling, and so many others. I look forward to adding Inara Scott to that list.

Maureen, I think some of the most secretive SEEMING people are those who actually have no secrets. You can just walk around with an elusive smile, and people will frantically guess at your secret but never figure it out. Perfect!

I don't think you need to worry about the split personality thing. You've already mastered that, as we all have who had/have day jobs as well as writing romance. ;-) I lost count of how many former co-workers of mine couldn't believe I'd been a closet writer all that time. Little did they suspect.... MUAHAHAHAHA!

ACWho developed Super-Mom powers of always knowing when my son was lying

Laurie -- your daughter's students are PERFECT for this book. And what a great lineup of authors she's introduced you to. Did you know I signed autographs right NEXT to Rick Riordan? ;-) My only claim to fame.

If your daughter does read the book, please let her know I've got a study guide on my website and I love talking to classes -- i can do a virtual school visit (no charge) if she's interested.

Hi Barb, thanks for stopping by! there are so many fabulous YA romances out there, I hope you check them out. My book isn't primarily a romance -- it's got some romance, but it's primarily a paranormal mystery. Please do let your grandaugher know about it -- and tell her to email me if she gets to read it!

Traveler, thank so much for checking in. I also love the added fun of YA's -- you never really know what's going to happen. That's definitely part of what I was trying to do in my book. It's not clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys -- which makes for a great mystery.

I heard recently that you're more likely to achieve your dreams/goals if you keep them to yourself. Counter-intuitive, but there it is. So I hope you make all those dreams come true! :-)

Kathy, you are adorable. I love your secret identities! The more the merrier, I say.

Now, let's talk, you media specialist you. Do you work in a school, or library? Delcroix is probably best suited for middle school, even as young as 10 yrs old. Some of my biggest fans are in my son's 5th grade class. ;-) Let me know if I can answer any questions or send any promotional stuff your way!

Janga, thank you! I sure hope Delcroix is a hit. But regardless of what happens, I'm just thrilled that I get to have the memory of that book on the shelf. :-)

So cool that you are so well read in YA. There are so many great writers on your list that I haven't read yet. But I love L'Engle, Voigt, Dessen and Hinton -- I haven't heard of Janet Lambert. Will have to check her out!

I can't tell you if I have a secret identity or not because if I had one and said, "yes", then it wouldn't be a secret anymore and then the answer would change and be "no"...wait...I THINK that makes sense...

My superpower is the power of procrastination. Okay, so it's not very super but I'm awfully good at it.

My secret crush is Hugh Dillon who plays Ed Lane on Flashpoint. I love that show in itself but he's totally the cherry on top. :D

Hi Gigi -- my son feels EXACTLY the same way about Percy Jackson. He adores the books and felt totally cheated by the movie. I haven't seen it, partly because I suspected that would happen. They always wreck books with movies! (so why do all authors seem to want their books to become movies? hmmmm....)

I WISH you and I could hang around more together so you could find all my lost things. And the phone thing is cool, because then I could be even more effective at dodging phone calls! :-)

I hope you like Delcroix -- I've got a contest on my blog right now if you request a copy from your local library -- check it out at www.inarascott.com.

LOL, Kirsten! If only I also FELT cool! Thanks, though! I desperately wanted ballet lessons as a kid, but I got piano instead (which I appreciate now, but still!) I started ballet when I was in college, and have been taking it on and off since (which come to think of it, is an awfully long time now)...

If you're still interested, you totally should, Kirsten!! It's fun because it's such a different way of thinking and moving! Since you've shared one of your secrets, maybe it's time you chose a new one to keep :D

Wow Catslady! You will have the GR shivering in his...feet, I guess. Does he wear shoes?

I am SO excited that Delacroix Academy : The Candidates is FINALLY on the shelves!! I have pimped it to EVERYONE I know!! Mom came down for lunch yesterday and was asking what I thought she should get my niece for her birthday September 9th! Quick as a flash I whipped out an index card and wrote "Inara Scott's Delacroix Academy : The Candidates" Talked to Mom tonight after I got home from work and SHE GOT IT !! My niece is going to be SO excited!

I haven't read many YA's, but the ones I've read I liked. I had to read the Harry Potter books before my brother would let his kids read them. Same with the Twilight series. I bought Trish's YA's and Jennifer Echol's YA's for my niece as well as myself. I just can't wait to read yours!!!!!

Secrets? Me? Too many to mention!

Super powers? Hmm. Everyone I know says I can talk to animals - all sorts of animals - snakes, wolves, lizards, dogs, cats, birds - you name it. I don't know about that, but I have worked with some pretty badly abused dogs. I've only met one I couldn't get through to, much to my regret.

Wish I had house cleaning super powers. And grass cutting super powers too! Five acres is a bit much!

Ooh, Kirsten, family lessons would definitely be cool! Our kids just tried a MMA (mixed martial arts) class and they all really liked it! Let us know how it goes! Or keep it a secret ;) Congrats again on Inara's success--and it's a gorgeous name! So really, it's like Kirsten's been your secret identity all along, you secret agent! :D

Kirsten, no, I haven't read it but I will be reading it as soon as I get my hands on it. Just reading the blurb I realized her secret was a biggie and hopefully she will learn to control it at the Academy.

I do read a lot of YA. I like to switch off between YA and romances (although both TBR piles are huge at this point). I do have my list of must-read sci-fi and mystery authors as well (what I grew up reading). I love E. Lockhart, Cassandra Clare, and other writers whose YA books are not too angst-ridden (can't stand some of the popular teen vampire series because of that).

I'm not sure I have a secret identity. Thanks to pet dogs and baby cousins, I can read body language of animals and small children to figure out what they want in a way that my boyfriend thinks of as practically psychic. Does that count as a super power?

Secret crush... hm. There's a male cover model I recently noticed and I now have two books with him on the cover: Vanessa Kelly's "Sex and the Single Earl" and Susan Sizemore's "Primal Instincts". I suppose he's my secret crush. :)

Thanks so much on the congrats guys. So sorry I wasn't around (unexpected house guests for a week!! Family friends of my husband when he was a boy and I have met the grandmother twice over 40 years ago and the 18 yr. grandson never). Anyway, I spent the weekend keeping that rooster safe from all my cats who were trying so hard to get at him. This was my first time and he may never want me to get him again lol. I think there are a few white feathers now lol.

Forward Page

September Releases

Still Available

Headlines

Donna MacMeans, Trish Milburn, and Nancy Northcott will all be in Atlanta for the Moonlight and Magnolias conference in Decatur, Georgia September 30 through October 2nd. If you're in the area, stop by for the booksigning. We'd love to see you.

Redeeming the Rogue by Donna MacMeans received a 4.5 star TOP PICK! review from Romantic Times Magazine.

Living in Color by Trish Milburn is now available on Kindle, Smashwords and at barnesandnoble.com for the Nook.